In general, the colored image obtained on subjecting a silver halide color photographic material to photographic processing is comprised of azomethine dyes or indoaniline dyes which have been formed by the reaction of a coupler with the oxidized product of a primary aromatic amine developing agent.
Brilliant dyes with little subsidiary absorption are required to provide color photographic images which have good color reproduction, and the dyes which are obtained from the pyrazoloazole magenta couplers disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,061,432, 4,500,630, JP-B-47-27411, JP-A-59-171956, JP-A-60-33552, JP-A-60-43659 and Research Disclosure No. 24626 in particular are more useful than the 5-pyrazolone azomethine dyes which have subsidiary absorbance in the vicinity of 400 to 450 nm. (The terms "JP-A" and "JP-B" as used herein signify an "unexamined published Japanese patent application" and an "examined Japanese patent publication", respectively.)
However, when these pyrazoloazole magenta couplers are used in silver halide color photographic materials, their light fastness is very poor when compared with that of the 5-pyrazolone magenta couplers, and there is a further problem that pronounced magenta colored staining occurs on storage after development processing, as a result of the presence of processing bath components which remain in the photographic material after development processing.
The inventors have discovered that anti-color fading agents which have a specified structure are effective for improving light fastness, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,588,679, 4,735,893 and European Patent 218,266. On the other hand, it has been discovered that compounds which bond chemically with the aromatic amine developing agents or the oxidized product of these materials which remain in the photographic materials after development processing and form an essentially colorless product as disclosed, for example, in European Patent (Laid Open) Nos. 230,048, 228,655, 255,722, 258,662 and 277,589, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,350, are effective for preventing the occurrence of magenta colored staining. Moreover, the joint use of the anti-color fading agents and anti-color staining agents has been proposed in European Patent (Laid Open) No. 298,321.
Storage properties have been improved to a remarkable degree by using these techniques.
However, although the improvement of the light fastness of the pyrazoloazole magenta image is greatly improved in the high color density regions, the improvement in the low color density regions is not so great as in the high color density regions, and it is known that the difference in the extent of the improvement in light fastness between the two color density regions becomes wider when anti-color staining agents are also used. Hence, color fading and ageing of the image proceeds, in particular, in the low color density regions; the yellow, magenta, cyan tri-color balance changes; and there is the disadvantage that fading of the low density regions of the magenta image can be observed visually. In addition, there is a clear need to increase the anti-color staining effect as described earlier, and thus provide for long term storage.